


the lion will eat you!

by Dancyon



Category: Green Creek Series - T.J. Klune
Genre: Gen, Kid Fic, Zoo trip, bennett family - Freeform, soft, the bennetts go to the zoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-20 23:00:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14903813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dancyon/pseuds/Dancyon
Summary: "Their last trip was just like the first, and just like every other time."The last time the Bennett kids go on a trip to the zoo.The one where the lion won't eat Joe, no way, it will eat Carter!And the one where Carter learns that love feels warm and Uncle Mark is definitely in love.





	the lion will eat you!

Before the day their youngest had been ripped from their hands, turning their world to ash and dust, the Bennett’s had turned their zoo visits into a monthly event, the children’s voices excited and loud as they run around laughing. 

Their last trip was just like the first, and just like every other time. 

They didn’t know, then, that it would have been their last time. But even if they’d known, they wouldn’t have changed anything, content to enjoy those last moments of perfect domesticity.

Joe had woken up earlier than everyone else, like he did every time something important was about to happen, chatting excitedly in Elizabeth’s ear as he helped her and Thomas fill the bags they would take with them. 

Kelly woke up next, sleep ruffled but awake, toothy grin in place as he was followed into the kitchen by Carter rubbing his eyes and yawning, all signs of tiredness disappearing as his sleep muffled brain finally remembered why they were all waking up so early. 

“Joe! Do you think the lion will try to eat you this time?” Joked Carter with a laugh as his littlest brother shrieked in fake rage and jumped on his back. 

“Take it back! The lion is going to eat you!”  
Kelly watched them play-fight as he was finishing his piece of toast. “You’re both absolutely right” he interrupted them with a glint in his eyes. 

Joe and Carter paused their fight to stare at him in suspicion until he continued. “The lion is going to eat both of you.”

They were already rolling on the floor, laughing and avoiding Joe’s skinny elbows, Carter’s long legs or Kelly’s teeth when a tall man appeared by the door, a backpack thrown across his shoulder and a kind, warm smile on his face. 

“Uncle Mark!” Yelled Joe, disentangling his limbs from his brothers’ and running towards his uncle, throwing his arms around his waist. “Are you coming with us? You are right? Tell me you are! You have to come with us today! You almost never do, you’re always busy, but the zoo is the best Uncle Mark! You’ll love the hippos, they’re so slow! And there’s a crocodile too!”

Mark Bennett waited patiently as his youngest nephew prattled on about all the reasons why his “Uncle Mark” should join them that day instead of working, and he nodded along, agreeing that “Yes, absolutely, you are entirely right Joe, how could I not realize this sooner?” 

“So you’re coming with us Uncle Mark?” asked Kelly with a grin, leaning against his brother’s shoulder and staring as his father for approval. 

Mark shared a look with Thomas, considering the pros and cons of letting someone else take his shift, before looking once more at the kids’ pleading eyes. “I guess I am. Let’s go to the zoo.”

Once there, Carter Kelly and Joe barely waited for the car to stop before they were out like a bullet. 

Kelly liked the giraffes better, staring at their long limbs in quiet wonder and sneakily throwing food at them, but Joe liked the lions and the tigers. Excited, he dragged his amused brothers to the lion’s cage, small nose squished against the glass and huge grin covering half of his  
face.

“Look! Look Carter! The lion! It’s sleeping so it can’t eat you! But look! He opened his mouth! It’s so big! We could both fit inside! Maybe Kelly is right and he’s going to eat both of us!”

“Nah.” Smirked Carter. “He’ll have a taste of you and then realize that Bennett’s don’t taste good. They’re felines and we’re canines. Have you ever seen a cat eat a dog?”

Carter laughed at Joe’s offended look, his mouth turning down on a pout when he heard Kelly snickering behind Carter. “You’re both mean!”

“What’s the point of having older bothers if we don’t mess with you?” Joked Kelly with a smile.

“Well! Dad never messes with Uncle Mark!”

“That’s because they’re old!” intercepted Carter with a knowing look, the certainty of a 12 year old. :I’m pretty sure they did when they were actually, you know, young.”

“We could ask them.” Suggested Kelly with sudden realization. 

“Last one to reach them gets eaten by the lion!” yelled Carter, already turning around to find their parents and Uncle Mark. 

“Hey! That’s not fair! You cheated!” Joe’s young voice could be heard above the noise as all three of them raced across the zoo sliding past amused visitors and annoyed ones, finally reaching the small table Thomas and Elizabeth were sitting at. 

Thomas turned his attention towards his sons, setting his cup of coffee down on the table and raising an amused eyebrow. 

Carter put his hands on the table, panting, and Kelly raced to him and collided with his back. Joe came in last, scowling. “That’s not fair! You cheated!”

“And yet, the lion is not going to eat me!”

“The lion is not going to eat either one of you.” Interrupted them Elizabeth, hiding her smile behind her own cup. “Because the wolf is going to eat you.”

The boys gasped. 

“Mom!” yelled Joe, dissolving into laughter alongside his brothers, Kelly’s hand in his hair and Carter’s arm around his shoulders. 

“Wait wait!” Said Kelly, still laughing. “Dad! We had a question.”

“Yes?”

“Did you and Uncle Mark… “ he interrupted himself, looking around. “Oh wait, where’s Uncle Mark?”

"He’s talking with a friend. What did you need to ask me?”

“But wait, it’s for him too! It’s for both of you!”

“He’s just by the cotton candy vendor Kelly. You can see him from here.” Elizabeth said, kindly but firmly. “Don’t interrupt them.”

The boys turned in sync to find the cotton candy vendor, immediately spotting their Uncle Mark, tall and light like the sun, blond hair shining under the warm sun of late May. He was talking to a shorter man with reddish brown hair falling carelessly across his eyes, a wide smile on his face. 

Carter stared at his arms in wonder, unconcealed because of the short-sleeved shirt. Ink danced across his forearms, forms and images twisting around them to create a fierce idea of power. 

“Who’s Uncle Mark’s friend?” asked Kelly curiously.

“That’s for your Uncle Mark to know. He will tell you if we wants to.”

Joe was still too young to understand most emotions, but Carter could feel a tugging in his belly when he reached out to Uncle Mark, something warm and soft like melted chocolate, like the sun in his mouth. It was similar to what he felt when he reached out to his parents, warm warm warm and so very green, like an endless forest of hope. 

“Is Uncle Mark in love?” He asked quietly, voice barely above a respectful whisper. 

“That’s not for un to say. We respect boundaries, remember?”

The boys nodded, averting their eyes and turning towards their father instead. 

“I guess we can just ask you.” Said Kelly, excited once more when his father merely nodded with a soft smile. 

“Did you make fun of Uncle Mark when you both weren’t old?” 

Thomas’ laugh was quiet but heartfelt. “Are you trying to get my permission to bully your brothers?”

“I would never!” Answered Carter with a mockingly offended look. 

Thomas laughed once more and Elizabeth didn’t even try to hide her smile this time. “I guess you will have to figure it out for yourselves once you are old like us.”

Joe gasped. “I can’t wait that long to get them to stop messing with me!”

“Too late!” Jumped Carter, grabbing his brothers’ hands and pulling them towards the animals again. “Come on Joe we still have so much animals to see!”

“Fine.” Joe huffed. “But we all go see the monkeys now! Do you think they’re awake now? They should be! They’re so funny when they’re awake and jumping around!”

Carter listened to his brother with a smirk before turning one last time to look at his Uncle Mark, feeling the WarmWarmWarm once more and noticing the soft look in his eyes and the smiling curve of his mouth. He thought adults were weird, but maybe growing up wouldn’t be so bad if Uncle Mark felt so happy in that moment.

**Author's Note:**

> Gift for Mika for the Wolfsong Exchange. Hope you like it babes.


End file.
